Panel of the City of San Clemente. The chapter is also fighting to see that a proposed development on the bluff above Strands Beach in Dana Point does not turn into a hotel-based storm water runoff dumping ground.
 
San Diego
Surfrider Foundation's San Diego Chapter in conjunction with Surfrider Foundation National Headquarters filed a lawsuit on November 16, 1999 against the International Boundary Water Commission (IBWC) and the City of San Diego for violations of the Clean Water Act. The suit was filed as a result of IBWC's discharging partially treated and toxic-laden sewage effluent 3.5 miles offshore of Imperial Beach from the South Bay Ocean Outfall which is co-owned by the City of San Diego.
    The complaint filed by Surfrider Foundation alleges that between January 13, 1999 and September 30, 1999, the IBWC discharged 5.91 billion gallons of sewage effluent through the outfall that was not treated to secondary standards, in violation of both their NPDES permit and the standards and limitations set forth in the Clean Water Act. The suit seeks an injunction restraining IBWC, as co-owner and operator of the outfall, from discharging sewage effluent from the outfall that has not been treated to secondary standards unless IBWC meets a compliance schedule ordered by the Court.
    San Diego Chapter members have been involved in local water quality issues for over seven years now, even training local firemen in Tijuana on testing coastal water for bacteria. They were one of the first chapters to implement the Blue Water Task Force Program and have received awards from "I Love a Clean San Diego" for their efforts. They

hope this campaign will end in a victory for clean water, surfers, swimmers and beach users of all kinds.
 
San Fransisco
The winter storms of 1998 and 1999 caused some major erosion problems along sections of the San Francisco coastline. Approximately 40 feet of bluff along a 400 foot stretch was lost between the south parking lot and Fort Funston in Ocean Beach causing the closure of the southbound lane of the Great Highway.
    Back in July of 1999, the Great Highway Erosion Control Board Emergency Project Declaration was passed by the Board of Supervisors' Transportation and Land Use Committee. In a two to one vote, Department of Public Work's (DPW) plan to build a 125 foot, 60 foot high rock revetment on Ocean Beach was approved. The project was opposed by the Surfrider Foundation's San Francisco Chapter who proposed an alternative solution to replenish the area with sand.
    San Francisco Chapter member, Michael Paquet, was given an opportunity to present the chapter's alternative solution and concerns about the DWP plan. The chapter presented written and verbal information suggesting that the existing rock and rubble (placed

there after the 1996/1997 storms) revetment has been exacerbating the coastal erosion along the Great Highway.
    The next step came as the full San Francisco Board of Supervisors needed to pass the Transportation and Land Use Committee's recommendation to construct another rock revetment. Fortunately, for the sake of the beach and coastline, the chapter's hard work paid off with a unanimous vote against any rock revetment or "hard" structures by the DWP. Instead, the Board of Supervisors sided with the San Francisco Chapter's alternative solution to nourish the beach.
    The next victory came as the Chapter and Friends of Ocean Beach were successful in getting the DWP and National Park Service to agree to a three-to-four year plan to add sand as needed to the Ocean Beach coast, thus reducing erosion problems without the use of hard structures. A thirteen member Ocean Beach Task Force is being established by the Mayor, which will include environmental organization representatives. The San Francisco Chapter has elected long time member Mike Paquet as Surfrider's delegate. More to follow on this highly successful effort.
 
Santa Barbara
The ARCO Corporation appeared before the California Coastal Commission on June 7, 1999 hoping to obtain an extension to a permit for the construction of two major golf courses on the Gaviota coastline. The Santa Barbara Chapter members also appeared to request that these permits not be extended. Chapter activists stated that the construction zone is outside urban planning limits on the pristine Gaviota coast.
(Santa Barbara Chapter article continued on page 6)